HondurasTemplates

Letters should be submitted online via the website regulations.gov no later than October 17, 2013. Click on the Submit Comment link in the upper right corner of the webpage to send your letter. Do not send your letter in by regular mail. First class postage goes through security clearing and can take weeks to reach the State Department.

Letters submitted electronically via regulations.gov are posted on that website. Information fields that will be made visible online are clearly indicated on the form.

You may submit your own comments or use the AIA's templates as a guide.

Template 1

<<NOTE: DO NOT SEND BY REGULAR MAIL>>

Madame Chairperson and Members of the Committee,

I am writing to express my support for the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Honduras Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from the Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras. I also support the proposal that the MOU be amended to include material representing the Colonial and Republican periods of its cultural heritage.

<<YOUR TEXT HERE>>

Respectfully,

<<YOUR NAME>>.

Template 2 (more detailed)

<<NOTE: DO NOT SEND BY REGULAR MAIL>>

Madame Chairperson and Members of the Committee,

I am writing to express my support for the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Honduras Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from the Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras that will be considered at the October 30, 2013 public meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. I also support the proposal that the MOU be amended to include material representing the Colonial and Republican periods of its cultural heritage. I am a <<describe yourself here, e.g. a student, a member of the general public interested in Honduran archaeology, a professor, etc.>>

<<Your letter only needs an additional paragraph explaining why you have an interest in the renewal of the MoU. If you are a student, you can write about your interest in studying or seeing material from well-documented excavations. If you are a member of the general public, you can say that your experiences make you confident that the MoU will promote the interchange of cultural property among nations for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes.

The Cultural Property Advisory Committee is particularly interested in comments relating to the four determinations established in the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act. The four determinations are: (1) that the cultural patrimony of the requesting nation is in jeopardy from the pillage of archaeological materials; (2) that the requesting nation has taken measures to protect its cultural patrimony; (3) that U.S. import restrictions, either alone or in concert with actions taken by other market nations, would be of substantial benefit in deterring the serious situation of pillage, and (4) import restrictions would promote the interchange of cultural property among nations for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes.

More information on these determinations is available in the AIA CPAC Overview, or you can learn more on the State Department website.>>

In consideration of the above, I respectfully ask that the committee recommend the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Honduras Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from the Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras and support the proposal to amend the MOU to include material representing the Colonial and Republican periods of its cultural heritage.